The Drinker of Blood, The Hunter of Souls
by FreakOTU
Summary: A bit of backhistory on Sara (or Selina, if she prefers) detailing when she 'collected' her sword and one of her knives. Please R/R
1. The Demonic Blade, Drinker of Blood

The Drinker of Blood  
  
Selina Del Naryen cursed silently as she landed on her back for the sixth time in half as many  
  
minutes, thumping to the wooden floor in the room where only herself and a gnarled old man were  
  
sparring. The hard floor, littered with broken furniture and shards of glass, was treacherous to move  
  
around on, with someone not moving carefully running the risk of shredding their bare feet, but a fall  
  
could cause even more damage to someone, if they landed badly.  
  
She slapped the ground twice, signifying her defeat, then stood up, seconds before bowing to the  
  
old man. "Good shot. Now, it's my turn."  
  
The man smiled in response, revealing a mouth devoid of all but three or four teeth, then  
  
returned Selina's bow with a sudden sweep of the wooden staff he held in one hand. Selina dodged the  
  
sudden move by jumping over the first strike, pulling her legs up as she flipped towards the Master. She  
  
hit the ground just as the return sweep of the staff smacked into her right shoulder, using the force of  
  
momentum to send her flying into the wall behind the Master.  
  
Wincing, Sel flexed her arm, then ducked to the side, spinning outwards with a kick to knock  
  
the staff out of position. Her hands came down hard on several small shards of glass, which crackled and  
  
crunched underneath her fingerless gloves, but did not penetrate the hardened leather. Sel used her  
  
continued momentum of her kick to flip forwards, rebounding off of the wall and launching herself  
  
towards the Master.  
  
She didn't hit him, however, as her hands snaked out and latched onto the staff. Expertly, she  
  
switched her stance when her feet hit the ground, and, kicking upwards, she neatly wrapped her right  
  
leg around the Master's left wrist, which she quickly yanked down and to the side by snapping her leg  
  
straight and out to the side. The sudden move forced the Master's hand off of the staff, which Sel then  
  
twisted out of his right hand, negligently flipping it around to a combat pose behind her back as she  
  
blocked a solid kick aimed at her left knee.  
  
Sel hopped back slightly, then neatly reached out with the steel-shod end of the staff, whacking  
  
the Master in his right elbow, temporarily deadening the nerves in his lower arm and hand. However,  
  
though the impact debilitated his choice of motions, he snapped his left hand across and grabbed the end  
  
of the staff. Shoving hard, he knocked the staff away from Sel, who, nonplussed by the counter, simply  
  
dropped down to her hands, scissoring her feet through the Master's legs, which knocked him onto his  
  
back.   
  
Soon, he slapped the ground, and climbed to his feet, with an assist from Sel. Sel retrieved the  
  
staff from where it had landed, and, dusting it off, she handed the weapon over with a nod of  
  
appreciation. The Master nodded back, examining the solid piece of wood with a practised eye. Then,  
  
smiling, he gestured for Sel to precede him through the door. Sel did so, absently blocking the staff's  
  
tap on the shoulder with her right hand.  
  
The two paused in front of a wooden door, which upon closer inspection, was about as wooden  
  
as a chunk of nickel. Though painted to look as decayed as the rest of the building, the door was  
  
actually a solid chunk of steel, with the exception of a small viewing slit in the upper third of the door.  
  
The Master tapped on the door with the end of his staff, creating a complicated pattern that Sel almost  
  
instantly tapped out on her thigh, in a near-perfect cadence, which earned her a raised eyebrow.  
  
The door clicked audibly, then slowly groaned open, sounding like the last time the hinges had  
  
been oiled was close to twenty years ago. Behind the door was an immense man, looking like a scarred  
  
Michael Clarke Duncan, and he was holding onto an even bigger machine gun, easily toting the big gun  
  
one-handed. Selina raised an eyebrow when she recognised the gun as US military issue only, but didn't  
  
pay it too much mind.  
  
The Master stopped in front of a second door, then turned and gestured for Sel to stand next to  
  
him. Slowly, he opened the door, and Sel applied her own strength to opening the door as well, which  
  
protested the slow grind of momentum by squealing angrily. Finally, the door stood open, and, within  
  
the dim light filtering through the dust-choked room, Sel noticed the light was glimmering on an array  
  
of sharpened steel.  
  
Walking into the room, Sel carefully examined the selection of weapons, which ran from the  
  
range of innocuous and pathetically harmless-looking tonfa batons up to and including vicious-looking  
  
swords, still stained with blood. Sel tried out a pair of Sai daggers, accurately pummelling a practice  
  
dummy with short stabs that would have thoroughly killed the thing if it had been alive in the first place.  
  
However, despite the good condition of the daggers, and the speed in which they could be employed,  
  
Sel replaced them, frowning to herself. She already had a dagger, though it languished inside her  
  
apartment.  
  
Instead, she turned and began examining the larger weapons. A pair of hook-swords caught her  
  
eye, at least, right before the two blades revealed their rust-covered nature to her. Sel sighed and  
  
replaced the two swords, glancing pointedly over at the Master, who shrugged. Shaking her head, Sel  
  
returned to the search through the weapons, until her eyes fell upon a dust-covered sword hiding behind  
  
three rusted hand axes. Gently reaching out, she picked up the long sword, surprising herself at the ease  
  
in which the blade seemed to fit in her hand.  
  
Slowly wiping the dust off of the sword, Sel noted to herself that the sword was longer than it  
  
appeared, as much of it was invisible in the dark room, except for a faint gleam of sliver along the edge  
  
of the long blade. Turning slightly, and focussing her thoughts, Sel turned, blade outstretched, and  
  
neatly lopped the head off of the practice dummy. Then, without even thinking, she twisted the blade,  
  
overcame inertia, and sliced the flying head in half before it could hit the ground. Finally, with a third  
  
change in direction, the tip of the sword gently grazed the dummy from neck to waist, splitting the wood  
  
and fabric dummy down the middle and sending a cascade of sawdust to the ground.  
  
Grinning, Sel flipped the blade around once, noting how the sword seemed to be perfectly  
  
balanced no matter which angle it was at. Turning towards the Master, Sel nodded, then selected a  
  
scabbard that could hold the sword, without being damaged by the exceedingly sharp edges. Sheathing  
  
the sword, she suddenly felt loath to remove her hand from the hilt, almost as if she had formed an  
  
attachment to the strange weapon. After a few seconds however, the point was rendered moot, as Sel  
  
slowly pulled her hand free from the hilt.  
  
Turning towards the Master, Sel presented her choice to him. "I choose this blade to be my  
  
weapon of honour. May my choice bring good fortune to all my allies, now and future."  
  
She then bowed deeply, still holding the sword's scabbard just below the crossguard. The Master  
  
looked at the sword, and, all colour draining from his face, bowed slowly, barely inclining his head  
  
before straightening. He then stepped towards Sel, and gently placing his hand on her own, he pulled  
  
her down to a slightly bent posture so he could speak to her. "I am not sure that this weapon will bring  
  
you any good fortune. It is legendary, but it is also cursed. Stories speak of swords possessed by  
  
vengeful spirits, and that is one of those blades."  
  
Sel looked skeptically at the blade she held, then shook her head. "I doubt that. After all, how  
  
could something of such exquisite make be cursed? Besides, I have a feeling that this will save me  
  
sometime in the future." Gently, she disengaged the master's hand from her own, and, slowly stretching  
  
to her full height, she carefully wrapped the scabbard and pommel of the sword in a thin grease paper  
  
that masked it from prying eyes, not to mention prying fingers.  
  
She then turned, walking past both men, and ignoring the angered "You'll be sorry!" from the  
  
Master, she walked outside of the training centre. Once out in the open air, she sighed under her breath,  
  
feeling more than slightly irritated, but then looked around at her temporary home. *Gah. I hate this  
  
place. Why did I come to Tokyo in the first place? Oh yeah, I wanted to learn Pentjak Silat from the  
  
most powerful Master in the known world.*  
  
Selina walked to her apartment, which she had nicknamed the 'coffin' as the tiny apartment  
  
wasn't much more than a place where she could sleep and prepare the occasional meal. Once inside, she  
  
sat down on her small futon, wincing as a bruise on her arm made itself felt, and examined the sword.   
  
The long blade was almost as long as she was tall, including the eight-inch hilt and crossguard.  
  
However, despite the weapon's obviously forbidding appearance, Sel handled the sword with ease,  
  
noticing that there was no blood channel in the blade, telling her that the sword was designed for vicious  
  
slashes, which would leave long tearing wounds that would put a victim into organ shock in one good  
  
swipe.  
  
Sel didn't care too much about what the damage potential of the sword was, as she was mentally  
  
entranced by the slowly shifting shades of black and dark blue that seemed to slide over the surface of  
  
the sword. Glancing at her watch, Sel absently noticed the time, and feeling tired, she put the sword back  
  
in its sheath, which was then carefully placed into the tiny closet where most of Sel's clothes also  
  
resided. Closing the closet, Sel didn't even bother to change into her nightclothes, instead falling back  
  
onto the futon and nearly instantly falling asleep.  
  
However, during her dreamless slumber, something happened that was most definitely not  
  
normal. As she slept, a faint glow began to seep out from between the slats of the closet door. Unlike  
  
the faint and flickering glow of a flame, or the pulsing throb of a neon light, the glow coming from the  
  
closet seemed to amorphous, sliding and shivering across objects as it slowly expanded. However, it  
  
only stopped when it found Selina's sleeping form. Pausing for a moment, and then moving tentatively,  
  
the glow slowly began to cover Sel's body, only stopping when she was completely surrounded.  
  
Slowly, the glow intensified, until it solidified as a pulsing sheath of bright red, completely  
  
covering Sel, and slowly constricting inwards Just as the glow flickered and died completely, Sel's eyes  
  
snapped open, though they were no longer their usual shade of bright blue. Instead, her eyes were a dark  
  
shade of reddish-purple, glowing slightly as she sat up. Moving slowly and slightly jerkily, as if she  
  
wasn't in complete control of her body, Sel stood up, walked over to the closet, and opened the door,  
  
staring at the sword. Slowly, she unsheathed the weapon, either not noticing or not caring that the sword  
  
was glowing a deep, pulsing shade of red in time with her own heartbeat, nor that she seemed to be  
  
revitalized by her contact with the hilt of the blade.  
  
Slowly, Sel opened her apartment's door with her free hand, listening carefully for anything of  
  
interest. Her thoughts had turned themselves to one focal point, and, with the primal urge having taken  
  
over, Sel's only objective was to kill. Standing in the hallway, Sel hunched over slightly, sniffing the  
  
air like a wild animal, and then made a decision as she turned towards a door halfway down the  
  
hallway. The sword seemed to affirm Sel's decision, and, tip of the blade leading, Sel started walking  
  
down the hall.  
  
Standing in front of the door she had chosen, Sel paused for a few seconds, listening for anything  
  
inside. She heard the faint hum of a television being turned on, and, almost immediately, she swung the  
  
sword up, carving the blade through the right side of the door, and severing the hinges like they were  
  
made of paper. Just as the sword came around to lodge for a second in the doorjamb, Sel's left foot  
  
slammed into the door, caving in a panel, but also knocking the door open in a spray of splinters. She  
  
yanked on the sword once, pulling it free, and walked calmly into her victim's apartment.  
  
Her victims, a man and a woman, were just rising from the couch where they had been cuddling,  
  
though there wasn't much effectiveness as the sword flashed outwards, bleeding off excess energy in a  
  
coruscating trail of light that gleamed wetly before fading away. The first slash missed as both people  
  
ducked, though it did quite a number on the couch itself. However, the return sweep, angled down,  
  
chopped open the man's chest, releasing a series of wet cracks as his ribcage was opened up like a book.  
  
The tip of the sword itself had neatly gouged a line across the heart, though it had not penetrated deeply,  
  
but it had also opened up the bottom third of the left lung. A small, multi-spouted fountain of blood  
  
squirted upwards from the arteries underneath the ribs, and the man collapsed, convulsing from the pain.  
  
Selina, uncaring, slotted the tip of the sword into the gouge in the man's heart and shoved with  
  
most of her strength, slamming the sword right through the person's heart and pinning him in place like  
  
a butterfly to a cork board. The woman, who had stood, frozen, during the vicious attack, tried to  
  
escape, running past Sel for the open door. She managed a step and a bit before an outstretched forearm  
  
caught her across the throat, throwing her back onto the couch where she started to gasp for air. The  
  
powerful blow to her throat had broken the cartilage bands that keep the trachea open, and the muscular  
  
action of the gag reflex had sealed the woman's throat tighter than any outside influence could.  
  
Both people died within moments of each other, one from massive trauma, the other from  
  
asphyxia. Standing silently in the room, Sel blinked twice, her eyes turning more blue than red. Pausing,  
  
and seemingly fighting for control, she failed, and her eyes turned red once more. The sword, satiated  
  
upon the dead man, whose body was well and truly bloodless, was yanked out of the corpse, angled to  
  
the side, and neatly rammed into the body of the dead woman. Less than two minutes later, the sword  
  
flared brightly once, then relinquished its control on Sel's body, which was first noticeable when her  
  
eyes turned back to their normal shade.  
  
Taking a look around the room, Sel instantly glanced at the two corpses lying on the slashed-  
  
open couch, the sword still inserted in one of the two dried-out pieces of human jerky. Physically, she  
  
didn't react at all. The only motion that she went through was a slow and methodical withdrawal of the  
  
sword from the corpse, which necessitated Sel placing her foot on the body's abdomen as she pulled the  
  
long blade out of the bloodless form. Slowly, moving nearly silently on the balls of her feet, Sel turned  
  
and left the room, keeping a lid on her emotions only through sheer force of will.  
  
Slowly, after closing and locking the door to her room, Sel examined the sword again. The black  
  
blade gleamed slightly in the dim light of her lone lamp, almost having a reddish tint that faded from  
  
view almost as quickly as Sel could focus on it. Finally, frustrated, confused, and emotionally drained,  
  
Sel just re-sheathed the sword, lay down on her futon, and wept.  
  
Almost two hours later, she left her room, holding the scabbarded and fabric-wrapped sword in  
  
one hand as she walked out of the building. She didn't pause until she was almost three blocks away,  
  
and then told a passing policeman that she had heard some screams from the apartment, and suggested  
  
that the officer check it out. She didn't wait for a response, disappearing into the gloom between some  
  
streetlights by ducking into an alley.  
  
Sel quickly walked to the building being used as the training ground, and, once she got to the  
  
door, she simply whacked the heavy metal with the hilt of the sword, creating a dull boom that resonated  
  
into the building. A few seconds later, a viewing slit opened in the door, and a pair of dark eyes glared  
  
at Sel. Then the door opened, moving slowly.  
  
Sel didn't move until the door was wide open. Then, silent as a ghost, she walked inside, the  
  
purpose in her eyes promising swift death to anyone who got in her way. Nobody decided to test her  
  
temper, or her force of will. Moving methodically, she quickly found the current fighting arena, this time  
  
being a grease pit where two trainees sparred in ankle-deep slime. She didn't even pause, striding across  
  
the middle of the pit without even slowing.  
  
Both trainees, surprised at her appearance, thought she was hostile, and attacked simultaneously.  
  
The response was quick, effective, and ended with one trainee cradling a broken wrist while the other  
  
nursed a dislocated kneecap. Sel then stopped in front of the Master, who had watched everything. She  
  
then showed him her right hand, which had an arcane marking burned into the palm. "Explain. Now."  
  
The Master nodded, then gestured for the two apprentices to leave. "That is a mark of one who  
  
has been controlled by the sword. Go to the library, search for the 'Black Blade of Carthage.' your  
  
answers are there."  
  
Sel nodded, turning to leave. She was stopped by a query, however. "How many did it kill?"  
  
"Two. Bloodless husks by the time it was done with them." she then turned and walked away,  
  
leaving the Master to his thoughts. She instantly headed to the library, which had a collection of musty  
  
tomes that were several centuries old, as well as a few more modern ones. In one of the modern tomes,  
  
Sel found what she was looking for.  
  
"The Black Blade of Carthage, a legendary sword of unparalleled power and destructive ability,  
  
is made of meteoric steel that is roughly twice as strong as Durallex alloy. Carbon analysis shows that  
  
the sword was originally forged around the time of the fall of Carthage, corroborating legends of an  
  
unstoppable warrior wielding a blade of night against the Roman legions. During the year 1612, the  
  
sword was recovered during the excavations of Carthage, though it then disappeared under rumours of  
  
people near it being possessed of murderous rage.  
  
"Rumours abound about the weapon possibly being possessed, but scientific conjecture has  
  
shown that there is no proof of such an effect. Currently, the weapon is still missing, and is identifiable  
  
by the fact that the blade is almost completely black, with the exception of a few tinges of silver or red  
  
in the edges of the sword." Sel closed the book, having found what she needed.  
  
She then picked up the sword, which had been resting against the table where she had been  
  
reading the book, and decided to head back to her apartment. At the exit, she was stopped by a half-  
  
dozen men, all of whom were carrying a variety of dangerous-looking weapons. Behind her, she heard  
  
the slow tap of the Master's staff on the concrete floor. "Don't try to stop me. I have no wish to kill any  
  
of the students, and you know that I can."  
  
"I will not stop you, child. I wish only to tell you something. It may be possible to control the  
  
rage within the sword. However, you must be tested in order to see if you can control yourself." With  
  
that, he tapped the floor twice, and turned away. Sel instantly drew the sword, the black blade flashing  
  
in the dim light as it neatly shattered a pair of sai daggers that had been rather poorly thrust towards her.  
  
Thus began a defensive conflict that ended nearly ten minutes later. Sel actively tried to avoid seriously  
  
injuring or killing any of the students, which handicapped her only slightly as she used the sword as an  
  
effective weapon-breaker.  
  
None of the weapons that had been brought to bear against her could stand against the  
  
supernatural power of the sword, and most shattered on impact. Simultaneously, Sel cut loose with  
  
devastating strikes that disabled her opponents by ruining kneecaps, elbows and wrists. By the time the  
  
last victim dropped to the ground, Sel was exceedingly angry. Turning around, she sheathed the sword,  
  
glared at the Master, and nodded, almost imperceptibly. He, in turn, nodded, then gestured to the door  
  
leading to the outside. "Once you leave, you will be dead to us. If you return, we will be forced to kill  
  
you. I wish this had not come to pass, but so it must be."  
  
Sel nodded, then slowly opened the door. Pausing at the threshold, she slowly wiped a tear away  
  
from her eye. "So be it. Farewell."  
  
Then, once again, she disappeared into the gloom, lost in the shadows of existence. 


	2. Dudu Ya Poidini, The Hunter of Souls

Dudu Ya Poidini, Hunter of Souls  
  
Selina leaned against the bole of the tree as she stood guard duty, and wondered how she had  
hooked up with this group of unscrupulous thugs. Even though she was the only woman in the entire  
camp, she had remained unmolested after one of the younger thugs had tried to have his way with her  
and ended with his balls knocked into his upper abdominal cavity. Selina decided to change position,  
and lay down, still straddling the branch where she had been sitting for the last four hours. Looking  
down, she smiled tightly at the fact that the next person who was on guard duty was going to have  
a heart attack when she appeared.  
*I really should go to ground level before the next person shows up, but I'm comfy right  
here.* Selina grimaced slightly, then closed her eyes and let the rest of her senses take over the  
sudden deficiency in her abilities. Soon, she heard her little alarm system make some noise, and  
opened her eyes. Looking down the twenty or so feet to the dried grass she had scattered around the  
tree, she saw the person who was going to take over the watch for her so she could get some sleep.  
She waited until the man had sat down under the tree and let him unhook his two-way radio  
so he could complain to base camp about finding an empty post when she dropped from the branch  
she had been lying on to a lower one, barely five feet above his head. Selina let the man actually start   
to complain, then stage whispered "Y'know, I've been watching a very large and hungry tiger that's  
lying in wait under those bushes for someone to get in its reach. I'm surprised you missed it, but then  
again, incompetence seems to be your forte." The man jumped, and looked up at the blank facade of  
Selina's body armour.  
"Dammit! Why do you keep doing that?" Selina shrugged, then turned upside down and  
grabbed him by the collar. Pulling him up, she swivelled around the branch again, and planted him on  
a second one nearby, just in time to save him from being savaged by the tiger's long claws. "I told  
you about the tiger. That's why I prefer the treetops. Now, your duty, in addition to keep watch, is  
to stay in this tree until someone else relieves you in four hours." Selina then let go of the man's shirt,  
dropped down to the ground, and when the tiger attacked, she kicked the creature in the head hard  
enough to stun it. "Down fluffy! I told you earlier about trying to hurt me, and that's what you get."  
Selina walked back to the camp, temporarily shutting off the armour and allowing her bare  
skin to be cooled off by the occasional jungle breeze. When she got to the camp however, she saw  
that the entire place had acted like an anthill that had suffered from an M-80 being dropped on it.  
Walking to the main tent, she ducked through the low entrance, involuntarily allowing every male to  
raise their blood pressure by letting them get a look at her butt. Looking through the small structure,  
she saw her mission commander looking at a map sitting on a low table. "Well, it seems I arrived in  
time to catch the final briefing. So, what's up?" Her commander looked up and sighed. "Joy, you're  
here. I thought that tiger you've made friends with finally gave up and ate you. Well, because you're  
here, you may as well get your other equipment out of that box you call a home."  
Selina eloquently shot him the middle finger, then took her twin magnums out of a fairly  
smallish steel box along with a leather gun-belt and six magazines, loaded with what appeared to be  
Spartan bullets. Putting the magazines in several pouches on the belt, she then strapped it around her  
waist, letting the leather ride low on her hips. Putting the two magnums in their holsters, Selina then  
turned back to the commander as she kicked the box closed and nodded to him. "Okay Knife, here's  
the mission. We're going into the jungle here, here, and here." As she watched, he pointed at the  
three points, about ten miles apart, and evenly spaced along the north edge of the deep forest.  
"Okay, so what do I have to do, other than shoot at the more hostile wildlife? I really am  
beginning to get annoyed at my losses in ammunition this time, Jim." Selina folded her arms over her  
chest, then pointed at a small area coded with a danger flag. "Lemme guess. You and the other sex-  
obsessed boneheads want me to go in there, clear everything out, and come back with a few hundred  
kilograms of ivory? Well, guess what? Fuck that idea. The next time you want something cleared out,  
send one of those neanderthals who guard the slave pens. Hell, they'd love the chance to find a village  
full of native women to violate.  
"Now, before you say anything else, I'll say this to you: this is the last time. I don't care how  
often you make noises about this, but I've never skipped a contract yet." Selina sat down on the chair  
on the opposite end of the table, and looked at the map. Jim also pointed at the same red spot, rubbed  
it with his index finger, and frowned. "Okay. Now, before you decide to skip this place, you should  
know that the next supply plane comes in six days. So, this one is not a shoot anything that moves.  
It's actually kinda simple this time. Go in, see if anything is in there, and then tell us if there's anything  
to be acquired. If so, we go in and capture what's worthy, then firebomb the rest."  
Selina stood up at the last statement and walked out of the room before she would say  
anything that could have repercussions. She walked over to the motor pool at the far side of the  
camp, and climbed into one of the jeeps there. She drove the jeep to where she was supposed to be,  
and had an interesting conversation with Jim through the two-way, mainly describing his genetic  
heritage in several dozen very insulting ways. (she especially liked the term "I believe your mother  
was crossbred with an orangutang, two buffalo, and a dead horse.") After she had vented, Selina  
booted up the GPS and found the area she should be exploring.  
She eventually drove to the correct co-ordinates, and after hopping out of the jeep she looked  
around. Selina saw almost nothing that even appeared to be threatening, and heard only the ping of  
cooling metal and the occasional bird singing. She walked into the forest, still keeping her senses on  
high alert, but was totally unprepared when a heavily woven net landed on her from the trees above  
her. "What the bloody FUCK!?!" Selina fought her way out of the net, but even when she managed  
to get out of the tangled mass, she was forced to surrender as at least seven almost-naked tribesmen  
pointing sharpened spears at her throat surrounded her.  
*Dammit* Selina thought, right before something slammed into the back of her head,  
knocking her into unconsciousness.  
  
Several Hours Later   
  
Selina woke up, and noticing that her armour had been active for more than four hours,  
allowing the bio-feedback systems to wreak havoc inside her head. Sara deactivated her armour,  
allowing it to revert to its normal form of a sleeveless and legless leotard. She tried to sit up and feel  
the lump on the back of her head, but her hands were tied behind her back. *Oh great. I'm really up  
shit creek on this one, and I definitely want to kick Jim's ass from here to Nairobi when I get out of  
it.* She looked around the small room she was in, and trying her best to focus her vision on  
something on the opposite side of the room, she didn't hear the person creeping up behind her until  
his foot brushed her back.  
She instantly arched her back, allowing the muscular tension to flip her over into the opposite  
direction. Looking up, she saw an old man, covered in beads and wearing a headdress made of several  
wild animal skins. He crouched down beside her, and poked at her abdomen, then at her face.  
"Hmmph. Dudu ya gkinmara. Yautja kcit-pa deg kainde amedha.*"  
* "Hmmph. Hunter of Men. The spirits wonder about your hard meat."  
Selina shook her head, then frowned as she tried to gesture that she was thirsty. Giving up  
on the gesture-based route, she just cursed under her breath for a few seconds, then spoke loudly  
enough to be heard. "Hey, do you speak English?" As a response, she got another line from the man,  
who she recognised as a witch doctor. "Dudu ya gkinmara, thin-de lehsaun fu thwei mugah ltou-de  
kalei.*" She tried again, this time trying the other languages she knew, failing each time. After almost  
twenty minutes of speaking, she just sighed in resignation and closed her eyes.  
* "Hunter of Men, where have the others taken our trophies and bearers of children?"  
Ten minutes after she had closed her eyes, she heard another person walk into the dark room.  
Then, hearing the muted conversation, made entirely in the muted gabble that had been spoken earlier,  
then felt the ropes tying her arms loosen. *What the? Weird.* Selina flexed her arms slightly, then  
opened her eyes, allowed the ropes to slide from her arms, and stood up. Looking at the witch doctor,  
and the other person who was standing beside him, she smiled faintly and activated her armour. Both  
men jumped back as the metallic plating covered her arms and legs before surrounding and concealing  
her face. The other man, recovering his courage quickly, touched her face with his hand and recoiled  
at the almost ice-like feel.  
He jabbered something at the witch doctor, who replied by gesturing with his left hand in  
some odd way. The man subsided, then turned back to Selina. "We need know. You demon or  
person?" Selina replied simply. "A person." The man translated to the doctor as Selina paced in front  
of them, he spoke again, asking Selina another question. "What your name?" "The Knife." He turned  
to the doctor, and said 'Dahdtoudhi' before running off on another long explanation to the doctor  
before he left the room. The doctor gestured for her to follow him, so she walked behind him into the  
light outside the building.  
Selina glanced around the small village, and saw only men, most girded for battle with spears,  
bows and arrows, and the occasional club. She noticed that there were two heads on spears stuck in  
the ground, so she walked over and saw that one of them was of the person she had set on guard  
duty. Feeling a pang of sympathy, she reached up to his still-open eyes and slowly closed them, then  
walked over to the second head. Looking up, she saw the person who had tried to molest her when  
she had first arrived at the camp. *Now, why would they kill those two, but spare me? They could've  
cut my head off any time while I was unconscious, even with my armour active. Well, there are no  
women here, and I haven't seen any children either. Oh god. Now I understand. This village is one  
that had been cleaned out by those slavers, but they didn't kill me because I've stayed out of the  
actual operations.*  
Selina sat down on the ground in front of the two spears, staring upwards onto the dead eyes  
of the rapist and noticing the swarms of flies that had already laid eggs in his mouth. *They killed the  
slavers, but kept me alive because of... what? My armour isn't that impressive, but they show great  
fear towards it. Maybe it's because I only used my skills to scout an area, and didn't kill anyone. That  
means that these 'savages' are a hell of a lot more civilized than those thugs signing my paychecks.  
Maybe I should throw my lot in with these people. But that would mean breaking a contract, and the  
last time I did that was because the bastard who had employed me was a child pornographer who I  
subsequently assassinated.  
*Well, what's the difference between kiddie pornographers and slavers? After all, that one  
tried to molest me, and I saw what he did to one of the younger people he had captured.* Selina  
shuddered at the memory of the small body she had found a few weeks ago, lying face down in the  
mud outside of the camp. *Now, I don't know why I started to work with those... things... that call  
themselves people, but that's going to end. These people are inherently more human that those  
bastards out in that camp there, and I should try to redeem myself by helping them.* Selina got up,  
and she walked over to the witch doctor as he started to produce an odd concoction in a pot half-full  
of some boiling liquid.  
She sat down beside the doctor, and watched as several men sat down opposite her, mirroring  
almost every move she made for ten minutes. She watched intently as the doctor threw several dozen  
pieces of plants and some dried chunks of what appeared to be meat into the pot, then started  
chanting in an utterly incomprehensible language. She watched as he then dipped his left arm into the  
liquid and withdrew a hideously ugly dagger from the pot. The blade was easily a foot long, jagged,  
and a dull black. Selina noticed that the hilt looked like it was made of onyx, and had what appeared  
to be knuckle guards covered with small spines, two of which were pointing towards the tip of the  
blade, and a third one pointing straight out.  
The dagger, still dripping from its bath, suddenly glowed a faint blue along several lines etched  
into the blade, then went to its natural shade of greyish-black. The doctor pointed to each of the men  
in turn, pointed at the dagger, and then pointed at an empty hut. The men nodded and walked into  
the forest. Selina was studying the dagger in the doctor's hand as the men left, then turned to the  
person that had spoken to her earlier when she sensed him behind her. "So, what's with the dagger?"  
The man squatted near her and traced the butt of his spear through the dusty ground. "It powerful  
tool of demons. Called 'Dudu ya Poidini'. Men try to prove worthiness by hunting evil ones. Maybe  
they die, maybe they rescue child-bearers."  
Selina raised an eyebrow, despite the fact that it wouldn't register on her armour. "I think I'll  
be able to rescue almost all of your women, retrieve most of your ivory, and remove many of the 'evil  
ones'. So, do you want to assign a guard so I don't betray you?" The man smiled, revealing yellowish  
teeth in an uneven grimace, then stood up. "Me your guard. Name is M'timkulu. Me follow and  
learn." She nodded, then gestured for him to follow her. Selina ran into the forest, and as she reached  
the nearest tree, she jumped into the lower branches. M'timkulu followed quickly, then looked up at  
her as the armour rippled and shifted into its chameleonic form.  
Soon, she was almost invisible, and as he searched the tree for her, a long snake-like object  
wrapped around his waist and yanked him into the tree. He stifled a shout of terror as he ended up  
almost face-to face with Selina, then grimaced as she jumped to the next tree. She leaped from tree  
to tree, heading roughly North, still holding to M'timkulu with a metallic whip that had extended from  
her right wrist. In less than half an hour, she had landed on another branch, looking down towards  
the camp less than two kilometres away. Selina waited as the sun slowly crept downwards, but felt  
the sudden stabbing pain in the back of her head that heralded neural feedback and the total shutdown  
of her armour.  
She dropped to the ground quickly, setting her guard down smoothly before shutting down  
her armour and leaning against the tree. M'timkulu looked at her nearly-naked form and quickly  
averted his eyes when she glared at him. "Okay, we're going to stay here until night has fallen. Then,  
follow me into that place." M'timkulu looked at Selina for a few seconds, then asked the question   
she had been dreading. "Why you help us? You one of them." Selina shook her head. "I'm nothing  
like those animals out there. It just took me a bit of thinking to understand that. Besides, trying to do  
the right thing is in my blood. Not to mention small pieces of bone and metal." M'timkulu looked  
surprised for a few seconds, as if he had never expected someone like her to crack a joke. He nodded,  
then hunkered down, looking at the camp intently. Selina closed her eyes, and rested for a while,  
allowing her system to heal from the bump on the back of her head and an overload of neural  
feedback from when she was captured.  
She woke up suddenly, and feeling slightly disoriented, she looked around in time to see the  
last rays of sunlight fade to nothingness in the west. Looking at her guard, she noticed that he  
apparently hadn't moved from when she had dropped off. That was until she tried to move and felt  
a sharp pain in her stomach. *Aaaggghhh! What the hell happened while I was asleep? Ow, ow, ow!   
Dammit, I may have to abort.* Looking down at where she felt the worst pain, she saw a relatively  
large amount of blood, glowing faintly silver in the waxing moonlight.  
*Oh shit. With that much blood loss, and me not feeling anything, I must have been really out  
of it.* Selina stood up, swaying weakly, then activated her armour before walking over to her guard.  
"Boo. So what happened?" He jumped slightly, then looked at her. "You wounded by deadly thing.  
Me cut it out." He showed Selina a leaf folded over something, then unwrapped the object, revealing  
a two-inch long grub with many sharp little fangs at one end. *Gross. Well, my own abilities might  
have killed it, but I'm still grateful.* "I am grateful. I should not have fallen asleep. Let's go."  
M'timkulu nodded, acknowledging the fact that he had saved her life from a very nasty way to die.  
Selina had already covered four hundred yards by the time her guard had caught up with her,  
and he followed her example of staying low to the ground and trying to blend in as much as possible.  
Selina actually had the greater advantage, especially because her armour had shifted to its chameleon  
mode. The two people snuck through the perimeter, undetected because Selina spent the time to find  
the lone guard and knock him out by throttling him. They wandered into the maze of tents,  
incapacitating lone people, hiding their bodies, and avoiding groups like the plague.  
Soon, they had worked their way to the motor pool, and after disabling the two guards and  
piling them into a jeep, Selina started to shove around the still-full fuel barrels into a nice line,  
staggered between the ten or so jeeps, and the armoured half-track used to transport the captured  
natives. She checked the track for any people hiding in it, but found something almost as useful: a  
fully stocked medkit. She took that, and after hiding it near where her escape route had been planned,  
she then went to the slave pens. Instead of shooting the locks off, she just ripped them off the chains  
with her armour's assistance, or slashed through the doors with the three-foot long spike that she  
extruded from her left wrist.  
The slaves were too shocked to flee instantly, especially because many had seen the ghost-like  
form around their villages before the evil ones had attacked. However, when some saw the ghost's  
companion, who was gesturing for them to remain quiet and follow him, they simply poured out of  
the cages and followed the silent person. Soon, all the slaves had been liberated, and the women  
followed M'timkulu into the forest. He actually didn't want to leave, but Selina had promised that  
she'd return to the village when she was finished. After everyone had left, she heard someone raise  
the alarm after discovering either the unconscious people or the empty pens.  
She then made her move. Pulling one of her magnums, Selina fired all nine rounds into seven  
of the fuel barrels, igniting two of them. She then ran towards the nearest cover as the first barrel  
literally blew its top off, blasting a massive ball of flame skywards. The blast scattered chunks of hot  
shrapnel around, and the inevitable occurred as several pieces hammered into the jeeps on either side  
of what remained of the barrel. Both jeeps exploded as their fuel tanks were punctured by the  
shrapnel, flipping the burning wreckage end over end in random directions. One of the wrecks landed  
on the stockpile of fuel barrels in the back of the motor pool, and Selina instantly dove for cover as  
the entire pile went up in a blast that could be seen from orbit.  
All the vehicles, and the remaining barrels went up in several dozen subsidiary blasts, sending  
shrapnel, burning gasoline and diesel fuel, and the shattered hulks of almost every jeep flying through  
the air, turning the once-orderly camp into a war zone. Where the motor pool had once been, there  
was only a shallow crater and flames climbing to more than fifty feet in height. Selina got up, thankful  
that she hadn't been squashed by any vehicles, then looked up and was forced to roll out of the way  
before what was left of one of the jeeps landed on the spot where she had been.  
*Well, I've just put a major divot in their profits. Time to make sure that they can't tell their  
superiors.* Turning towards the tent filled with communication devices, she reloaded her empty gun,  
retrieving the magazine from the ground, then opened up a pocket on the back of the gunbelt. She  
felt two cards slip into her grasp between three fingers, and pulled them out. Both cards glowed a  
faint red, pulsing randomly, and in time to her heartbeat. Selina didn't even hesitate, but threw one  
card at the communication antennas, and rolling to the side to get a better angle into the entrance of  
the tent, she threw the second one at the table covered with all the important equipment.  
Both cards blew less than a second apart, shredding the antennae on top right before a louder  
blast turned all the equipment into expensive scrap. Selina then went to the main tent, grabbed the  
locker that held her stuff, and simply walked out of the building, having hoisted the locker onto her  
left shoulder. As she walked out into the night, she snagged the medkit with her whip, and  
disappeared from anyone's sight as the base's ammunition began to cook off, forcing the survivors  
to keep their heads down as they tried to fight the myriad fires that had broken out.  
  
Several hours later   
  
Selina walked back into the village, just as dawn began to peep over the forest canopy.  
M'timkulu was waiting at the threshold, and when he heard a faint whistle, he looked up just in time  
to avoid being crushed by Selina's locker. The loud thud and his yelp of surprise gathered the  
attention of everyone in the village, so they all saw Selina drop from a tree onto the ground right  
behind the metal locker. Some people shrunk back at the apparition of something about the size of  
a person, that, instead of remaining motionless, blurred and shifted like it wasn't totally on this plane  
of existence.  
Eventually, the people became stopped trying to run away, but only because Selina shifted out  
of her stealthy phase and allowed her armour to revert back to its usual shade of deep purplish-black.  
As she walked around to the witch doctor's hut, she flipped the medkit into her left hand and used  
the still-exposed whip to collect the locker. When she entered the hut, Selina instantly dropped the  
medkit to one side, the locker to the other, and sat down heavily. *Whew. Well, I don't want to do  
that again. At least we rescued the women from a fate worse than death. Now for part two of my  
little mission. Retrieve the ivory. Too bad I don't know where it is hidden.*  
After checking for any observers, she shut down her armour, and examined the wound in her  
stomach, which was still seeping. Selina opened up the medkit, and used a gauze wrap to staunch the  
wound, after disinfecting the ugly-looking gash with some alcohol wipes and sterile water. *Well, I'm  
probably going to get a scar. Oh well.* Selina heard a noise behind her, and instead of activating her  
armour, she just wrapped her twenty-five foot long cape around her body before turning around.  
Looking at the entrance, she saw several small children looking at her with what appeared to be awe,  
but may have been fear.  
Selina smiled, looking at the smallest child in the little cluster. She raised her hand and wiggled  
her fingers, allowing enough time for the child to mimic the action. Some of the children were  
cautious, but soon they were almost climbing over her in enthusiasm. Despite the primitive conditions  
and professional difficulties niggling at the back of her mind, she was happy while playing with the  
children. Some children tried to open her locker, but failed. Eventually however, the witch doctor and  
M'timkulu reappeared, and sent the children somewhere else.   
The doctor, quite happy, gave Selina the dagger that he had used in the ritual the previous day  
and said, "Dudu ya gkinmara, ne pyode amedha dug Dudu ya Poidini" Selina glanced at M'timkulu,  
and he supplied the translation. "Hunter of Men, for defeating evil meat, Hunter of Souls now yours."  
Selina nodded, then pointed to the outside. "I will leave soon, after my wounds have healed. The  
ivory is somewhere in the place I torched. M'timkulu knows the area, and the ones who stole it are   
most likely dead." M'timkulu translated for the doctor, then both men left.  
Soon, the children returned, but not before Selina had changed to her more casual clothes of  
jungle shorts, and a white tank top, allowing the scars on her arms and legs to be visible, especially  
because of the light tan she had acquired during her stay in the country. Selina stayed for two days,  
celebrating with the rest of the village at the return of the womenfolk and the eventual retrieval of the  
ivory. Selina left early in the morning with her locker, the medkit, and the knife. She walked to the  
jeep that she had originally driven to the general area in, put her stuff in quickly, and drove north to  
the nearest airfield.  
The closer she got to the field, the more random wreckage she saw along the dirt track. Soon,  
she had run out of gas, barely three kilometres from the field, and she swore for a few minutes when  
she saw that the gas can was empty. Instead of dwelling on the fact that she had blown up the last  
useable fuel supply a few days ago, she just activated her armour, grabbed the stuff she had taken,  
and walked down the road. Several hot, sweaty, and very aggravating hours later, Selina arrived at  
the airport and was instantly surrounded by several heavily armed slavers.  
The largest one pointed at her locker, then at her. "So, where the hell were you for the last  
several days? We thought you had been killed in that covert attack on our base." Selina smiled,  
looked at the man, and put the locker down. "Guess what? I was that covert attack." Before the man  
could respond, Selina had pulled both magnums from their holsters and plugged four bullets into his  
chest. The other six men opened fire as Selina's armour rippled into its defensive form, allowing the  
bullets to bounce off her chest and head. She allocated two bullets to each man, double-tapping the  
poor slavers in the heads or throats. She fired the last two bullets at the reinforcements charging at  
her with AK47s blazing, then ducked behind the locker. As she reloaded, she heard some bullets  
ricochet off of the metal box, and she hoped that nothing was damaged.  
She popped back up, glanced at the reinforcements and pulled out a blue card from another  
belt pouch. The men noticed the card, and they gave a creditable account of trying to scatter, but  
Selina threw the card anyway, and the small projectile landed right in the middle of the group. The  
subsequent electro-magnetic pulse fried the nervous systems of most of the slavers that were in the  
group, and she shot the ones who had avoided the blast. After seeing that nobody else was trying to  
kill her, she grabbed the locker, picked it up, and used one of the stunned slavers as a shield by  
wrapping her left arm through the person's own arms after breaking both his elbows with  
hammerlocks.  
She walked to the plane that had the most activity, and threw the slaver into the next person  
she saw. Throwing the locker into the cargo bay of the twin-engine plane, she then walked into the  
machine. To an outside observer, the entire plane started to rock and bounce on its shocks, and loud  
shouting mingled with the occasional thud was heard from the open door. Soon, the eight slavers that  
had been in the plane were dumped out through the door, seconds before the door was closed from  
the inside. The plane started its engines, nearly taking the head off of another slaver (a la Indiana  
Jones) before roaring off into the sky. 


End file.
